It is often said that Finland is becoming more secular, and that religion is losing its grip on the people.
According to a new book on the Finns' relation to religion, the situation is not quite that cut-and-dried.
Official public religiosity as represented by the Lutheran Church has weakened, but religious feelings that are held in private have actually gained in strength.
The writers of the book, Kimmo Kääriäinen, Kati Niemelä, and Kimmo Ketola have not found many signs of claims of a religious revival - with the exception of the years of the recession in the 1990s.
The economic slump strengthened the people's faith in one God, and also their trust in the Church. An improved economy and an increased material well-being have brought belief in the vision of God proclaimed by the Church back down to the level it was in the early 1990s.
Finns generally see religion as a mostly private matter, and by European standards, the country ranks at the bottom in participation in religious activities - alongside the other Nordic Countries, as well as Estonia and Russia.
Church membership has also declined in Finland, as has the number of people committed to its doctrine.
Although church attendance is low, faith in God is at an average level by European standards, and Finns tend to pray at a rate higher than the European average.
Finland has an exceptionally high proportion of people who do not participate in organised religious activities, but who nevertheless consider religion to be an important part of their lives.
Gender differences in the practice of religion are greater in Finland than the European average: 55% of women and 41% of men believe in one God.
Women also pray more frequently than men, and are more committed to the Church.
There are also considerable differences among age groups. Religiosity clearly increases with age.
Just over a third of people under the age of 25 consider themselves religious. Among pensioners the rate is four out of five.
About half of men under 35 are completely indifferent toward religion.
Among men, there are sharp differences among the age groups. While less than half of men under 25 believe in God, the proportion among retired men is 83% - almost as high as among women of the same age group.